It is known that many species of fish are more active at dawn or dusk or at night or other times when lighting conditions are poor. Thus, fishing is frequently better during these periods and many people prefer to fish at these times. Because of the darkness, however, it is more difficult to see the end of the rod. This makes it harder, if not impossible, to observe the movement of the end of the rod when a fish is attempting to take the bait.
Various forms of lighted or illuminated fishing rods have been heretofore proposed for solving this problem. U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,508 issued to Mark O. Schmidt et al, for example, describes the use of a removable flashlight unit in the handle of a fishing rod for illuminating the ends of fiber optic cables running up the hollow interior of the fishing pole. U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,410 issued to Michael J. Cota et al describes the use of a light bulb located in an outer section of a fishing pole and connected to a mercury switch located at the tip of the pole for detecting jerking movement of the end of the pole. When the mercury switch detects movement, the light bulb is turned on to light up the outer section of the pole. U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,433 issued to Kevin D. Sparks describes the use of a light bulb in the handle for illuminating a bundle of optical fibers extending up the hollow interior of the pole. The light bulb is connected in circuit with a sensor switch located at the tip end of the pole so that the light bulb is turned on when a fish strikes at the bait.
These previous proposals are interesting, but have various limitations and disadvantages. With the arrangement of Schmidt et al, the light bulb is continuously lit when the pole is in use and the flashlight batteries are soon exhausted. The Cota et al and Sparks fishing rods, on the other hand, use movement sensors which are not very sensitive. Rather substantial movements are required to light the light bulbs. Also, the sudden lighting of the bulb is likely to startle the fish and scare him off. Furthermore, since the poles are not continuously illuminated, these arrangements are not much help in seeing the poles when they have been set aside for one reason or another or when they have been accidentally dropped into the water.